The Vampire Diaries: "Masquerade"Review

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Can Katherine be stopped?

By Diana Steenbergen

If you are not into community fundraisers, then you had better pray you never live in a town like Mystic Falls, where yet another charity party is in full swing this week. This time it is a masquerade ball, and Katherine's mask is both literal and metaphorical as she impersonates Elena.

The first great thing about this episode is the formation of a new Scooby-style gang, and how natural it is to see them all working together. The team consists of Stefan, Damon and Caroline, Alaric and Jeremy, and a welcome Bonnie, along for the ride at last. Not only is it fun to see this group of characters working together, but there is minimal angst from Bonnie about cooperating with the vampires this time around. In typical Vampire Diaries fashion, when something isn't working, they make an adjustment quickly, and I'm happy Bonnie has accepted the fact that Katherine needs to be dealt with, and that working with the Salvatore brothers is the best way to do it.

Once they are at the party, everyone has a role to play, and they all come through. I love Caroline's glee when she successfully leads Katherine into the trap. What is most surprising is how much chemistry Jeremy and Bonnie have while they are working together. The dialog is a little heavy-handed at the end, emphasizing that Jeremy has grown up in Bonnie's eyes, but you can imagine her dilemma since this is her best friend's little brother.

Nina Dobrev continues her excellent work as both the evil Katherine and the sweet, earnest Elena. There is an added layer this episode, as Katherine impersonates Elena, usually sarcastically, which makes things even more entertaining. It is not always easy to play doppelgangers with enough nuance to make each character clearly distinct from each other, but Dobrev has handled the dual roles of Katherine and Elena with confidence.

Katherine's schemes, in true villainous fashion, are full of fail safes and backup plans. Although Caroline saves Matt from being the pawn that turns Tyler into a werewolf, Katherine has a second person in place to carry out the task. But the best twist of the evening comes from the spell that she has placed on Elena. Just when the good guys' plan seems to be working out, and we are rooting for Damon or Stefan to stake Katherine, it is revealed that anything that is done to her also happens to Elena. It is an excellent twist that changes everything in an instant. In a matter of minutes Stefan and Damon go from near victory to merely being trapped in a room with a cranky ex-girlfriend. If Katherine had wanted to save herself some pain and blood loss, she might have mentioned the spell before they attacked her in the first place. On the other hand, she is mean enough that it's possible she didn't mind being hurt, knowing that Elena would be hurt as well.

Helping out Katherine with her plot to get the moonstone back is Lucy, played by Natashia Williams. Williams is excellent as the mysterious witch, who does not appreciate being used by Katherine. Lucy not only singlehandedly puts our heroes back in charge of the situation with Katherine, but she gives Bonnie some good advice about staying involved with the Salvatore brothers in order to help keep the community safe. I sincerely hope Lucy will return at some point, she would be great as a mentor to Bonnie.

While it was inevitable that Tyler would succumb to his family's werewolf curse at some point, Michael Trevino fills the moment with a sense of the tragedy this is for Tyler. Candice Accola is exceptional here as well; her character has more empathy than ever for someone caught up in a nightmare that has turned them into a monster. Accola is making the most of every scene they give her this season, and Caroline develops more emotional layers every week.

It is somewhat surprising that Katherine has been defeated this early in the season, but I am not complaining. The Vampire Diaries moves quickly, and it is better to move on before Katherine becomes one of those tiresome villains who can never be defeated. Although the show is wise to keep her alive; she hints that Elena is still in danger and that she has some information. I'm sure we will be getting back to Katherine and her information sooner or later.